"Being A Hero Is Optional"

That little quote up there gives a very brief, yet brilliant idea to the consumer of what InFamous is all about.

InFamous is an open world sand box game developed by Sucker Punch Productions exclusively for the PlayStation 3 system.

Story

InFamous follows the story of one Cole MacGrath, a simple man who spends his days as a bike messenger / delivery boy, and the story starts off as he was delivering a very special package which turns out to be a bomb and after being requested to open it by his client, blows up half of Empire City. In the process of blowing up the town, Cole, our hero / villain, gains electricity based super powers  as well as killing many citizens, including his girlfriends sister. The story then continues with Cole coming to master his powers and defeating powerful enemies along the way.

Sounds like your typical comic superhero story right? Right.

Graphics

As all current generation games, InFamous' graphics are outstanding with character models and buildings being extremely detailed. Scenery is well done, with ripples in the water looking real and trees and plants swaying slowly in the wind.

However some things are not quite so good. After a car explodes, it still looks pretty much the same as it did before hand, with the exception of the few windows being smashed and the bonnet being dented.

The cut scenes looks very similar to comic book drawings, which obviously suit the game perfectly due to its comic book superhero story.

Gameplay

As previously stated, InFamous is a sand box game, which means you can go just about anywhere in the city. To compliment this, Cole is an expert when it comes to free running, so if you can see it, you can climb it.

There are a lot of super powers Cole obtains throughout the game each tending to be more deadly than the last, such as electricity grenades and a shock wave to send enemies and cars flying, and a few support powers, such as a shield to deflect bullets.

There are also Karma related powers, so if you are good you have access to two or three powers that are not available to you if you play as InFamous and vice versa, therefore adding a great deal to the games replay value as players should want to try out both sides of the powers at least once.

The Karma system plays a large part in the game. When you're seen as a hero the town loves you and the police help you when fighting enemies and when seen as InFamous it is the opposite, the town hates you and the police try to kill you.

One major flaw in the game however is that regardless of what side of the Karmic scale you are on, the games story does not change, you always end up with the same ending, save for a different cut scene at two different points in the game.

Sounds

There is not a lot of music in InFamous as compared to other games released these days, which is actually great. It adds to the dark theme that InFamous has going on, what with all the destruction of the city and what not.

The main sounds you will be hearing is that of gun fire and lightning bolts as well as Cole's voice, which may be surprising to some but you will soon become accustomed to it.

Replayability

As already mentioned in this review there is a Karma system. As you play the game you will come across points where you have to make a decision where you can either help the citizens of Empire City or harm them, which either gains karma or loses it respectively.

You can only choose one of these options at each point during one play through obviously, and thus you will want to play again to witness what would happen should you choose the other Karmic option.

Also, if you wish to get the Platinum trophy for InFamous, you must play through at least twice, once as a hero and once as InFamous.

Overall

Overall I'd give this game 9/10. InFamous is an amazing game and Sucker Punch deserve all the praise possible for creating a game of this calibre as their first PlayStation 3 game. The game has great graphics, a great story and best of all when you finish the game your mind will be blown with all of the twists.

There are a few bugs and glitches here and there, and I have fallen through the ground twice into blue nothingness, but you soon die after falling for 10 seconds and respawn at the nearest hospital. This is actually ok and cool to see, however the first time you see it you will be very confused.

My only problem with this game and the reason that it does not get the full 10/10 is that Trish is in the game.

Buy or Rent? - InFamous is definitely a buy. Sucker Punch poured their hearts into this game and the end result was spectacular. If your still not sure, go and download the demo off of the PlayStation Store now! and then fall in love with this game.

Final Impressions

+ Great graphics+ Lots of special powers+ Cool bosses+Great replay value- Trish being in the game